Gin-saw cleaner.



J. C. SHROPSHIRE.

GIN SAW GLEANBR. APPLICATION FILED H1121, 1910.

Patented July 19,1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JESSE C. SHROPSI-IIRE, 01E ANICE, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR F THREE-EIGHTI-ISTO P. G.

MAYS, OF VESTA, ARKANSAS, AND ONE-FOURTH TO A. B. MGLANE, OF BRANCHARKANSAS.

GIN-SA\V CLEANER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jesse C. SHROPSHIRE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Anice, in the county of Franklin and State of Arkansas, haveinvented or discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Gin-SawCleaners, of which the following is a specification, reference being hadthere-' in to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has for its object to provide a gin saw cleaning deviceof such a character that when, in the operation of the gin, the sawsbecome clogged with gummy matter they may be qulckly and thoroughlycleaned to free them from such gummy matter, the cleaning device beingof such a character that it will perform its intended functionefficiently and may be operated to cause it to perform such function ina convenient manner.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a broken out elevation of anapparatus embodying a preferred form of the invention. Fig. 2 is abroken out top view of the same. Flg. 3 is a cross sectional side viewon line 33, Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a detail sectionalview on line 44,Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, 12 denotes side Walls or parts of the ginframe, and attached to said frame are metal supporting bars 13 providedwith slots which loosely receive a cross bar 14. The supporting bars 13may be pivotally attached to the parts 12 of the gin frame by means ofbolts 15, so that the cleaning device may be swung away from the ginsaws 16 when not in use, if desired, or the said bars 13 may be rigidlysecured in place by means of additional bolts inserted in holes 17 insaid supporting bars 13. ltiveted or otherwise rigidly attached to thecrossbar 14 are bars 18 from which extend forwardly curved or outwardlybowed arms 19 the ends of which are constructed to form cleaning knives20. Above the bars 18 are similar but somewhat longer bars 21 which arepivotally attached to the cross bar 14 by means of bolts 22, said bars21 having forwardly extending curved or outwardly bowed arms 23 at theforward end of which are formed the cleaning knives 24. The pivoted bars21 of the entire sets of cleaners are connected together at their lowerends by means of a link or bar 25 to which the said lower ends of thesaid bars are jointed by means of bolts 26, so that by moving theSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 21, 1910.

Patented July 19, 1910. Serial No. 545,155.

said link or bar 25 endwise the cleaners or cleaning knives 24, mountedon and preferably integral with the pivoted bars 21, will be caused tomove toward or from the cleaners or cleaning knives 20 carried by therigid bars 18; and in such operation, in causing the cleaning knives toapproach or recede from each other, the cross-bar 14 will have a slightendwise movement in the supporting bars 13, so as to impart movements tothe knives 20 toward and from the knives 24, as the pairs of knives arecaused to close or open, to engage the gin saws or be removed fromcontact therewith.

As showing one manner in which the cleaning knives may be actuated, toopen and close the same, one of the side bars 13 is provided with abracket 27 to which is pivotally attached, by a bolt 28, a lever 29pivotally connected to the link or bar 25 by a bolt 30; the intermediatebolt 31 serving as a pivotal connection between the said lever 29 andthe pivoted bar 21 beneath it. The inner end of the lever 29 is looselyreceived in an aperture 32 of an operating hand lever 33 which ispivotally attached at its inner end to an inwardly extending projectionor part of a bracket 34, which, in turn, is preferably pivotallyattached by a bolt or rivet 35 to one of the supporting bars 13. It willbe understood that by moving the operating lever 33 to the right or leftthe lever 29 with which it is connected will be actuated to move the baror link 25 and the cross bar 14 endwise for the purpose of opening orclosing the cleaning knives, and the said hand lever 33 may be retainedin place, to maintain the cleaning knives in a closed or open position,by means of a keeper 36 provided with notches which will receive saidhand lever to hold it in place. The keeper 36, in the form of theinvention herein shown, is secured to a sill piece 37 of the gin frame.

The cleaning knives 20, 24, are preferably so arranged that the cuttingedge of one of the knives of a set or pair will be slightly in advanceof the cutting edge of the other knife of the set or pair, so that theknife or cleaner which is in advance of the other will first loosen thegummy matter clogging the teeth of the gin saw, and which loosened gummymatter will then be entirely removed by the other knife or cleaner. Theknives or cleaners will preferably be of steel, and

will preferably be formed integral with the outwardly-bowed spring arms19 and 23 by which they are carried, so that the cleaning knives willpress against the sides of the gin saws in a yielding or elastic manner;and in addition to serving as cleaners the said knives will also serveto straighten any bent teeth which the saws may have.

As a convenient means of providing for having the cutting edge of oneknife or cleaner of each set or pair slightly above or in advance of theother knife or cleaner of the pair, washers 38 are preferably interposedbetween the fixed bars 18 and the pivoted bars 21, said washerssurrounding the pivot bolts 22 of the said bars. By providing washers ofdifferent thicknesses, or by inserting two or more thin washers betweenthe bars 18 and 21, the amount of the projection of the cutting edge ofone knife above or in advance of the cutting edge of its companion knifemay be regulated, as may be desired.

In the operation of the invention for the purpose of cleaning the ginsaws, the gin will be stopped, and the knives or cleaners will then beengaged with the saws by operating the hand lever 33 so as to close theknives or cleaners together against the saws, and the saws will then beslowly rotated backward until thoroughly cleaned. After the cleaningoperation has been effected the knives or cleaners may be opened outaway from the gin saws, so as not to interfere therewith, and may eitherremain in place in such opened-out condition, or the entire apparatusmay be removed from the saws by turning the supporting bars 13 on theirpivot bolts 15, if desired. When the cleaning device is thus pivotallymounted on the gin frame cleats 39 will preferably be secured to theframe parts 12 to serve as stops to limit the movement of the cleaningknives toward the gin saws 16.

The invention is not to be understood as being limited to the detailsherein shown and described, as it is obvious that other means, withinthe province of mechanical skill, for simultaneously opening and closingpairs of gin-saw cleaning knives, than those herein shown and described,may be employed. For example, instead of rigidly attaching the barscarrying one of each pair of knives to the cross-bar 14, and mountingsaid bar movably in the supporting bars 13, the two knives of each pairmight be pivotally mounted on the said cross-bar and the pivoted barscarrying the said knives might be connected together by reversely movinglinks suitably operated to open and close the several pairs of knives orcleaners; and other variations in the details of construction might bemade without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. In a gin saw cleaning device, the combination with cleaning knivesarranged in pairs and mounted so that the several pairs of knives may beopened and closed, of movable bars carrying said knives, means forconnecting the said movable knife-carrying bars with each other, andmeans for operating the said connecting means, for simultaneouslyopening and closing the several pairs of cleaning knives, the cuttingedge of one knife of each pair being slightly in advance of the cuttingedge of the other knife of the pair.

2. In a gin saw cleaning device, the combination with pairs of cleaningknives pivotally mounted so as to be opened and closed, said knivesbeing carried by pivotally mounted spring arms to enable them to beyieldingly pressed against the gin saws, of means connected with saidspring arms and by which the several pairs of knives may besimultaneously opened and closed.

3. In a gin saw cleaning device, the combination with pairs of cleaningknives pivotally mounted so as to be opened and closed, said knivesbeing carried by pivotally mounted spring arms to enable them to beyieldingly pressed against the gin saw, of means connected with saidspring arms and by which the several pairs of knives may besimultaneously opened and closed, the cutting edge of one knife of eachpair being slightly in advance of the cutting edge of the other knife ofthe pair.

4. In a gin saw cleaning device, the combination with pairs of cleaningknives, of pivoted bars carrying said knives, a connecting link joiningsaid bars together, an operating lever for said link, and a hand leverengaging and serving to actuate said operating lever.

5. In a gin saw cleaning device, the combination with pairs of cleaningknives, of pivoted bars carrying said knives, a connecting link joiningsaid bars together, an operating lever for said link, a hand leverengaging and serving to actuate said operating lever, and a keeper forretaining said hand lever in any desired position to which it may bemoved.

6. In a gin saw cleaning device, the combination with supporting barsprovided. with openings, of a cross-bar loosely received in saidopenings, bars fixed to said cross-bar, pairs of cleaning knivessupported from said cross bar, one knife of each pair being rigidlyconnected with said crossbar and the other knife of said pair beingpivotally connected with said cross-bar, an operating link or barconnecting the said pivotal'ly mounted cleaning knives, and means foroperating the said link or bar for opening or closing the pairs ofknives.

7. In a gin saw cleaning device, the commeans for operating the saidlink or bar for bination with supporting bars provided opening orclosing the pairs of knives, the with openings of a cross-bar looselyrecutting edge of one knife of each pair being ceived in said openings,bars fixed to said slightly in advance of the cutting edge of 15 5cross-bar, pairs of cleaning knives supportthe other knife of the pair.

ed from said cross bar, one knife of each In testimony whereof I affixmy signature, pair being rigidly connected with said crossin presence oftwo witnesses.

bar and the other knife of said pair being JESSE C. SHROPSHIRE.pivotally connected with said cross-bar, an Witnesses: 10 operating linkor bar connecting the said S. T. BUMPERS,

pivotally mounted cleaning knives, and, W. W. WALKER.

